Tech News: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Drama & Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)’s Crazy Week

…the rapidly growing popularity of smaller tablets like Google 7-inch Nexus, which was announced last summer, and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini introduced by Apple last October, along with Amazon’s Fire HD.

Twitter and Apple prepare to launch music services (The Guardian)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Twitter are both expected to make significant incursions into the music space in the near future in moves that could challenge Spotify, Pandora and other independent music services. Apple is understood to be preparing a music streaming service that would challenge existing ones such as Spotify and Pandora in the US, after reports said that it was close to securing licensing deals with Universal Music and Warner Music, two of the three major music labels. Negotiations with the third, Sony Music, are said to be “less advanced”, while there is no indication of independent labels’ willingness to sign.

Digits Q&A: BlackBerry Seeks to Regain Momentum (Wall Street Journal)
After launching its new BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this year, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), which now does business as BlackBerry is trying harder to regain momentum in the global smartphone market. The first smartphone running the new OS is the full-touch-screen BlackBerry Z10, which is now available in the U.S. and some other markets. The second device, the BlackBerry Q10, is launching soon. Preorders for the Q10, which has a physical keyboard like many traditional Blackberry devices,started in Canada this week. The Wall Street Journal spoke with Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben, who was in Hong Kong this week for the local launch of the BlackBerry Z10.

Microsoft Smashed on Goldman Downgrade (Forbes)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares plunged 4.9% to $28.80 on heavy volume, as Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock. With PC trends in a sharper decline than anyone thought, what can the company do to keep shareholders happy? Goldman Sachs analyst Heather Bellini believes the company has four “Plan B” options to really get its stock out of the range it’s been in over the last 10 years, credit crisis not withstanding. She notes that Microsoft shares are up just 3% since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched the iPhone in June 2007, vs. a gain of 260% for Apple, and 170% for Samsung.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Next Announcement May Surprise You (Insider Monkey)
When it comes to the best information on Apple, you often times don’t have to look any further than the analysts that pay so much attention to Apple. For example, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty recently met with management at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). As you can imagine, this was an interesting get together that proved to provide a lot of information on what the Cupertino-based company may be looking to accomplish in the future.